Banyan Looks to Expand Nationally With Big Acquisition

The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., wealth management firm announced Monday it will acquire Silver Bridge Advisors of Boston, forming a $3.4 billion RIA to join the growing list of independent advisory firms hoping to establish a national footprint.

Clearly the objective is to expand nationally, Banyan founder and chief executive Peter Raimondi said. Were going to have feet on the ground and be in the cities we want to focus on. Silver Bridge has deep roots in Boston and its San Francisco office gives us a west coast presence that we can build on.

Banyan plans to add more offices in Southern California and possibly Seattle on the West Coast, Raimondi said. The firm is also considering opening offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. to supplement its existing footprint in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Florida.

Raimondi said he wants to grow Banyans assets and revenues between 20% and 30% annually and reach $10 billion in assets under management within three to five years.

The combination of Silver Bridge, majority owned by the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and highly respected for its holistic family office orientation, and the growth and investment-oriented Banyan could be potent, according to industry observers.

Silver Bridge has a differentiated whole-client delivery and a cultural gestalt that is rare, but without sufficient assets and growth, its very tough to scale, said Jamie McLaughlin, an industry consultant. They were a footnote on Wilmer Hale's revenue line. The sale gives them a more compatible owner and capital source, and a chance to get to some scale.

Wilmer Hale initially planned to spin Silver Bridge off last year, before deciding to sell the unit outright. In the meantime, a number of key executives left the firm, including Steve Prostano, who was president and chief executive for nearly seven years, managing director Paul Matherwiez and Martim Oliviera, the managing director who opened and ran Silver Bridges San Francisco office.

You never like to lose good people, but we still have great talent and will continue to develop talented advisors, said Tom Manning, who took over as Silver Bridge CEO from Prostano last December. Manning has been president of the firm since 2011 and chief investment officer since 2007. He will become CIO for the combined firm.

Michael Blackmon, Banyans current chief investment officer, will become executive director of portfolio management and lead a team of 22 portfolio managers.

Indeed, Banyan prides itself on being an investment-focused shop, Raimondi said. You want to have as many investment solutions in-house as possible. If too many are farmed out you just become a conduit.

The combined firm will also continue to offer selective family office services for families with $20 million or more in investable assets, and a full range of services for those with $100 million or more, Manning said.

Potential clients must have a minimum of $1 million in investable assets, and will be segmented into categories of $1 million to $5 million; $5 million to $20 million and $20 million and up, Raimondi said. Those in the latter category will be given the opportunity to invest in such vehicles as private partnerships, while ultrahigh net-worth families may invest in private operating companies, he added.

The Silver Bridge acquisition is expected to close in August as an all cash deal. The combined firm will have 8 firms across the U.S. and 70 employees.

Raimondi said other cash deals or equity partnerships with firms in Banyans target markets are possibilities, noting that the firm has already completed four deals in the past four years.

Were always open to discussing business synergies and client-service opportunities, Raimondi said. This is a tremendous time to have the business resources to put together a world-class firm.